ContraLou

Nice job...... Now if you could only memorize your Mass Brass parts..........

"The Christmas trees" nickname was started by our Jersey friends that stuck with the corps. In response Mr. Bregdoll tought the corps Sleigh Ride/Jingle Bells. We would play it leaving the field in retreat and at in door stand still shows. You can hear it on the 65 recording at the Chicago Civic Oprea House Show. 64 was a great horn line. It took a while for things to jell in 64. The corps started very slow but as August came around the corps got on a roll and put it all together at the Dream. That was the first show St. Kevin's won that year. From that point on, they were a threat to win any show they were in. After 64 there was a big turn over in members. For the 65 season many members of the Knights feeder corps (The Emerald Gems) moved up to the the Knights to fill those spots. You are correct. 36 horns was the standard. We held that through most the 60's. In the late 60 years it became more difficult to maintain that number due to the draft. At one point a drill change was needed to cut down to 30 horns but later on the corps managed to get the line back up to 36 for competitions.

For a couple of years (63 & 64) Kevin's used 2 contras and 1 euphonium. In 65 the 3rd contra replaced the euph. The pedal tones were often played by the baris. From 60 on you can hear pedal tones in the routine.

MASS BRASS UP DATE Great, Great rehearsal(s) Sunday. We moved to our southern practice facility in Canton, Ma for our first outdoor rehearsal of the season and the weather was perfect. The day started with our weight lifting exercises (refer to Post #13) then sectionals to work on basics then the group split to go over the various music programs. MB1 or maybe 2, worked on the patriotic show which is an all Buzzy Bergdoll production that includes “An American Salute”, “God Bless the USA” and “Stars & Stripes Forever. The music is complete and the cast is working hard on the visuals and drum feature. We have a few spots open to fill out the expanded color guard that will perform a full color presentation during the program. Any very well endowed female, size 2 to 4 that looks great in spandex and has guard experience is invited to audition. Candidates must be at least 21 years old. 2002 Flash the Brass veterans will get preference. With the wealth of color guard talent in the Boston area we’re sure these spots will fill quickly. MB2 or maybe 1, worked on several selections to determine what will be played at the DCA Mini Corps show in Rochester. There is a mix of new songs and some of the corps old standards that have been requested by our fans. Numbers being considered are Malaguena, Never My Love, Mininos Das Laranjas, Legend of the One Eyed Sailor, A Mis Abuelos, Love for Sale and Let It Be Me. 2 or 3 from this list will make up the Mini Corps’ Rochester program. Next the casts combined to go over the Italian program for the appearances in August at the Boston North End Italian Festivals. The music selections include; Santa Lucia, Funiculi Funicula, Volare, O Sole Mio, Hey Gumbaree, Tarantella, Arrivederci Roma and Come Back to Sorento. The day concluded with cool downs and a second round of weight lifting. All in all, things are progressing on schedule. Oh, did I mention that new uniforms are on order??? It’s something that the boys from Albany wouldn’t dare copy. The above does not break my oath of omerta because nothing here can be either confirmed or denied. :sshh: To dckid80; Funny you should mention it, we did consider an all Rick Connor program. Rick is a good friend of Mass Brass and we’ve played and still play some of his arrangements. There are 2 problems with doing an all Rick Connor show. One is that we would have to get permission from Larry Kerchner to play half the show. (inside joke) And the the horn line falls apart during Sir Duke when they all rush to throw the pie in my face. Stay tuned for more news out of South Boston

What you saw in Randolph was Mass Brass casts 1 & 2 combined. Not everyone though, as there were some members who could not make it that night due to other committments. Mass Brass participates in several events each year where there is no limit on the number of performers. Since Rochester last year there has been great interest in MB and the ranks have swelled to the point where members who wish to participate in this years Mini corps must audition for a spot. OR there may be MB1 & MB2 in Rochester, just like the bobsled teams. I know what's going on and what the future plans are but we have taken the oath of omerta signed in blood. :sshh: Since we're from South Boston, home of Whitie Bulger, if we told you we would have to ......... well, you know. Look for major announcements coming from Southie soon...

WELCOME BACK CODI. You bad boy. I see you got a new case of handgrenades... So what's wrong with going to LA for the championships???? I make that trip twice a month. Jet Blue from Boston to Long Beach is a piece of cake. I went to the TOC show at the Rose Bowl and it was a great take. I'm sure this year will be no different and those who go will enjoy it. With that said, I enjoy going to the NCAA final four much more, even with CODI. By the way, any word on our BBall tickets yet?????

St. Kevin's Mini Corps will be in Rochester again this year.

Brad, I am interested in the Olds Contra. Please check your Email. Thanks.

Frank, If I understand correctly, as the highest placing MCA corps at the 06 DCA Championships, Mass Brass is designated as the current MCA champion. I'm sure Strutta or Rod Keppel can explain in more detail. Looking forward to seeing you and the Golden Eagles in Harrisburg.

The St. Kevin Emerald Knights have also been contacted. Show plans should be finalized soon.

Hello Tom, We all hear from Strutta often, but for the record, Mass Brass will be in Rochester this year. We have a three spring indoor shows/competitions and a couple of summer shows lined up and our favorite and most fun performances at 2 Italian festivals in Boston's North End in August. Inbetween we are learning 2 or 3 new songs to add to our repertoire. Looking forward to Harrisburg.. Strutta will be on soon to disacknowledge this post..

Me Too.

21 seems fine. Numbers wise it fits in a catagory between Class A and Brass Ensenble. It's not broke. That's one area of Mini Corps that works well.

I know I will. ^OO^ See you Friday.

That's right... Loops gave me a card around 98. I haven't seen it in a while. The same goes for Loops too. Romeo, We'll have to get our pal Bill Moore a card after his performance with the MA Legends corps at this years GAS. It's nice to see there's still a lot of SCUM in drum corps.

Yup..... I got mine today... but there was one small problem... They sent me the CD's instead of the DVD's Oh, they also have the Golden Eagles listed as the Golden Knights. Very professional outfit

Political Correctness strikes again.......

Hey I thought that when you and Chuck were in it ment "Bloody Awful Contras" Ed Dennon would be dissapointed that you haven't retained any of his pedagogics. 22 days until the first BC basketball game. See you at center court.

Hey John, Best of luck in Scranton. We're looking forward to seeing you. Go out and play well and have a good time doing it. The rest will take care of itself. It's pretty cool that there are 3 corps from Mass on back to back to back. This is going to be fun.

Okay.. The deadline has passed... Who is in the Mini Corps show and what is the order of appearance?

I have the Dynasty 5/4 4 valve Super Mag and really love to play it. It is the best sounding horn I have owned, including the King K-90. The sound is full and rich and cuts through the rest of the ensemble without having to over blow. It is especially good in the lower register. The back pressure and resistance is a little more than the Kanstul model but it is less than what you might expect from a horn this size. It is very large and fairly heavy. Not a lot of fun to carry in a parade for this old guy. The balance is a little back heavy for me so I added a mouthpiece extension (tuba bits) and cut the front tuning slide an inch to compensate. It tunes well but you do have to adjust for temperature and humidity. It takes a little time but the tune each note feature is a plus. This is a well made, high quality instrument. Regarding the price..... $11,000 and $12,000 (LIST) for a brand new one is right but you can buy the horn for $6,500 to $7,000 with a case. I've seen used ones for sale for $3,000 to $3,500 with no case. If you are thinking new, keep in mind Wilson will still produce "G" contras for Dynasty but it may take a while for delivery because of limited and scheduled production.

Thanks for the review Matt. It was a lot of fun performing and meeting with so many old and new friends that night.